Ice by Elissa Lewallen Page A

hoping Justin wouldn’t notice they were gone. I tossed the jeans onto the bed next to the shirt and said, “Get dressed, then I’ll call the police.”
    “You can’t!” he panicked, his eyes widening like before.
    “What do you need my help with that the police can’t handle?” I asked as I crossed my arms. I then shut my eyes again.
    “Because…! Because…!” He kept grasping for an excuse and I could hear him sliding the jeans on. After I heard the zipper I opened my eyes. He was pleading with me now, still shirtless, but it didn’t seem to slow him down any. He grabbed my hands and his black eyebrows turned up desperately. His hands were big and cold and there was dirt under his nails. “Please, you have to help me again. I couldn’t think of anywhere else to hide.”
    “Why do you keep saying I’ve helped you before?” I asked incredulously, not wanting to believe it was what I thought he meant. I pulled my hands out of his, not because they were dirty, but because I still wasn’t sure if I could trust him. I immediately regretted it, because it seemed like something Marcus’ rude girlfriend might do.
    “I was the dog you saved,” he said quickly, only like it was a minor detail. Despite the blank expression on my face, he just plowed on talking. “I’ve tried to thank you before, like last night, but I scared you. You don’t know how much I appreciate what you did for me. I even thought about leaving a note on your doorstep, but I knew you wouldn’t understand…like now. But, why would I make up such a strange story?”
    I gave a long, hard blink and held my head. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “Right…why are you?”
    His face fell, and then it turned hard and determined. “I’ll show you then.”
    “Show me what?” I asked, suddenly feeling nervous. Hadn’t I seen enough from him?
    He started unzipping the jeans and my heart raced.
    “Oh, no!” I said, wagging my finger at him. “Keep them on!” I commanded in as firm a voice as I could muster, but it still shook a little. His jaws were clenched as he kept right on taking them off despite my protests. He struggled to get one of his legs out, nearly falling over. I noticed his feet were dirty, too, as one foot dangled and swung awkwardly in the air. Once he had kicked them off, I knew what he wanted to show me.
    He got down on all fours and morphed into the big Husky in an instant. I put my hand to my mouth in shock, just staring into his icy eyes for several seconds. Big John had come in at some point and started sniffing him, like he was making sure it was the same person…or dog.
    The Husky walked up to me and put his paws to my knees, whining pitifully. The dog’s eyes looked sad and desperate, just like the boy’s had. I slowly bent down and looked over his face, sure it was the same dog I had wondered was a wolf all those weeks ago. And, now I could really see why I wondered that: he was just as large as Big John, who was an actual full-blooded gray wolf. His features were very similar to Big John’s, as well.
    The Husky started licking my face all the sudden and I remembered this was actually a person licking me.
    “No! Stop!” I said, shoving the Husky away. “I get it, okay?”
    He turned back into the human boy right before my eyes, sitting in front of me where the Husky had been. He had a big grin on his face, obviously happy he had succeeded in convincing me he was a dog, and maybe even a little satisfied that he had grossed me out with all the licking.
    I turned away, crawling on my hands and knees to get away from the naked boy the fastest way I could think of. “Put the jeans back on, please,” I said in as calm and level voice as I could.
    “Right. Sorry,” he said, sounding like it was taking all his strength to stifle his excitement. He even giggled a little.
    I sat down on the floor with my back turned until he tapped me on my left shoulder. I stood up and turned around to face him. The